Lebanon invasion not in U.S., Israel’s interest

Once again the vast resources of the U.S. government are being used to wreak havoc, destruction and the death of civilians in a faraway, impoverished, secular nation of the Middle East. This time, we are doing so through Israel, our primary client-state in the region and the primary U.S. recipient of both foreign aid and military assistance.

On July 12, Israel invaded the sovereign nation of Lebanon. To date more than 900 civilians have been killed and more than 800,000 displaced by the bombings. The world watches in the meantime in awe and horror. Hatred at the United States and Israel, which stand isolated in the international arena, likely will continue to expand everywhere, which will further empower radical fanatical movements. In the long term these costly policies of aggression are not likely to benefit the average citizens of either country.

Not unexpectedly, in the United States virtually the entire political and media establishment, all well tuned by oil and corporate dollars, have stood in penguinlike unison to cheer the Israeli incursion. In passing, they provide apologetics for the "precision" laser-guided missiles directed at civilian populations, fleeing refugees or United Nations peace personnel.

While the media have paid little attention to the background of the most recent conflict, this is what is known to date. On June 24, Israeli forces kidnapped two civilians from Gaza and took them to Israel never to be heard of again. On the following day, Jihad militants kidnapped an Israeli officer across the border. From a humanitarian standpoint, the kidnapping of civilians is a much greater violation of international norms than the kidnapping of soldiers.

Following this incident, Israel invaded Gaza and killed more than 60 civilians as part of an incursion that the world (outside the United States) considers to be a form of collective punishment. The Gaza incursion included destruction of the electrical and water systems, leaving about 1 million people without food, water and in the dark.

On June 29, as part of its attack on Gaza, Israel imprisoned one-third of the Palestinian Cabinet. Because this occurred across national borders, this means that Israel kidnapped government officials of a foreign democratically elected government.

On July 12, perhaps to relieve some pressure from the Israeli attack on Gaza, according to analysis by the Financial Times, Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers. Israel responded with an outright invasion of Lebanon, resulting in national devastation and the killing of innocent civilians, including women and children. The United States supported the invasion and rushed to deliver additional "precision guided" weaponry. Both Israel and the United States claim that because Hezbollah crossed international borders and kidnapped two IDF soldiers, Israel has the right to retaliate.

However, both the United States and Israel are guilty of the same crimes that they claim started the entire incident: the illegal crossing of international borders and the kidnapping of citizens on foreign soil. For the past 39 years, Israel has failed to meet numerous U.N. resolutions demanding that it vacate the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank. Concerning Lebanon, it is well known that Israel has for years violated its national border daily.

Both Israel and the United States also are guilty of kidnapping foreign nationals across international borders. Israel currently holds more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners without charges, thus in essence they were kidnapped. Many of these civilians are being held in secret Israeli prisons, preventing access to the Red Cross, in clear violation of the fourth Geneva Convention and of Israeli law itself.

The policies of the United States in its support of Israel are emblematic of its misguided efforts in the Middle East. The premise of these policies is that the United States has the right to use its military prowess to secure the natural resources of the Middle East and elsewhere. These resources are secured for the benefit of powerful business sectors. Until the average citizen comes to terms with the deeply undemocratic principles behind our foreign policies, which lead to so much suffering and destruction abroad (and increasingly at home), we, as a country, won't be able to deal with the real root causes of social injustice and radical terrorism abroad.

Hector Valenzuela is a specialist in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at the University of Hawaii-Manoa.